


out here in the dust

by demonicneonfishy



Series: february angst-fest (febuwhump 2021) [22]
Category: The Old Guard (Movie 2020)
Genre: F/F, First Meetings, Pre-Canon, Pre-Relationship, Suicidal Thoughts, a very very brief moment
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-22
Updated: 2021-02-22
Packaged: 2021-03-12 16:54:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 431
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29637720
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/demonicneonfishy/pseuds/demonicneonfishy
Summary: The woman crosses the desert, her stormy eyes searching the horizon. But whatever she is looking for, she does not find it.
Relationships: Andy | Andromache of Scythia/Quynh | Noriko
Series: february angst-fest (febuwhump 2021) [22]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2141784
Kudos: 23





	out here in the dust

**Author's Note:**

> day 22 of febuwhump 2021  
> prompt: burned  
> (title from one foot, walk the moon)

Quynh does not know how long she has been here. Days, weeks, months, years. It’s all the same to her.

The sun scorches her skin, and yet the burns heal every time. And then they reappear. Over and over and over. At night, she freezes. In the day, she burns.

The burns take longer and longer to heal each time, and perhaps, eventually, it will stop.

She’s so tired of being alone. Her only companion is the woman in her dreams, a figment of her imagination, who she begins to see in familiar surroundings. As if she is drawing closer and closer. 

Her mind, playing tricks on her yet again.

She has died of thirst, hunger, exposure.

She does not know what is killing her anymore, only that she is dying, over and over again, and it does not end. She almost wishes it would end.

* * *

_ The woman crosses the desert, her stormy eyes searching the horizon. But whatever she is looking for, she does not find it. _

Quynh takes a breath. Was she sleeping, or dead? It’s difficult to tell. She closes her eyes again against the glare of the sun.

There’s a rhythmic tapping sound coming from somewhere, and it takes a moment for her to place it.  _ Footsteps. _

Someone is coming towards her. She knows she should get up, but she doesn’t have the strength to stand. 

The footsteps only grow closer, until they come to a halt just beside her head. A featherlight touch brushes over the burns on her face, and she winces, opening her eyes.

The woman from her dreams is kneeling beside her, looking down at her worriedly. Another dream, then. But this one feels so  _ real _ . She wishes it was real.

The woman reaches for a waterskin and gently lifts Quynh so she’s sitting up, leaning against the woman’s shoulder.

“Drink something,” the woman tells her, lifting the waterskin to Quynh’s lips. 

Quynh tries to speak, but can say nothing.

“Please,” the woman says. Quynh couldn’t refuse even if she wanted to.

She drinks a little. Then a little more. Then a little more.

“Thank you,” she whispers, her voice hoarse from disuse.

The woman smiles at her.

“Who are you?” she asks.

The woman draws her knife and slices across her palm, holding it out to show Quynh. Her blood drips onto the sand, staining it red, but the wound closes over in seconds. Quynh looks at it, then at her, with wide eyes.

“I am like you,” the woman says softly, and Quynh nearly sobs in relief.

She’s not alone anymore.

**Author's Note:**

> sunburn counts as burning right


End file.
